By the evening edition.
Daniel Radcliffe remains as the legendary actor who played Harry Potter in the film saga. But before filming, other candidates were on the short list to take on this exceptional role. Among them, a young Briton had this chance… which ultimately turned into disillusionment. A childhood failure that he had difficulty coping with, as he testifies in The Guardian.
At the dawn of the year 2000, how many children dreamed of playing their hero on the big screen? Millions, without a doubt. At the time, three years after the release of the first volume of Harry Potter, the production company Warner Bros, which bought the rights for 1 million pounds sterling, was actively looking for a host of actors to adapt the saga at the cinema. JK Rowling, author of the literary series, set the rule that the actors be British, as recalled Konbini.
For weeks, thousands of candidates are auditioned in the United Kingdom. With a major challenge: finding the perfect profile to take on the main role of Harry, the little wizard who has become the idol of young people. The lucky one must meet several criteria: have blue eyes, embody both the innocence of childhood and the temerity of a young wizard destined for adversity… and not be too old. “Age was important, we were hopeful of making several films, so we knew it wouldn’t be suitable for a 13-year-old”had confided in 2016 Janet Hirshenson, casting director at the time, to Huffington Post. This is the reason why Jamie Bell, who played Billy Elliot, is left out: he is already 14 years old. “It was too old, impossible. »
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The same look as Daniel Radcliffe
The choice of director Chris Columbus and his team finally falls on Daniel Radcliffe, 11 years old. He played his role to perfection in the eight episodes of the series, which ran from 2001 to 2011, instantly making him an international celebrity.
But before the role was assigned to this favorite actor, the team hesitated for a long time. Several other candidates found themselves in the short listincluding Jamie Clifton, a young resident of Sussex (a region south of London) who was the same age as Daniel Radcliffe, and the same blue eyes. Twenty-five years later, he testifies in the British daily The Guardian to look back on this exceptional experience… and explain how he overcame the weight of this failure.
“He’s pretty good.”
Jamie learned of the casting news from his school, which relayed the announcement in 1999: the role was open to all candidates in his age group. Like most of his comrades, he has already devoured the first volumes of the saga. And begins to dream of slipping into the shoes of the little magic prodigy. “I excitedly told my mum about it as soon as I got home, and she signed me up for a casting at a nearby school in Brighton.”he says, Guardian.
This is how, one rainy afternoon, Jamie shows up for the meeting. He finds himself competing with around 300 children. At the end of the first audition, one of the casting managers whispered in her mother’s ear: “He’s pretty good.” A comment that lights a glimmer of hope in the schoolboy’s head. But which fades over the weeks, due to lack of news from production.
A few months later, the house phone rings: the boy is invited to audition for the role of Harry in Leavesden, in the northwest suburbs of London, where Warner has set up its studios for the filming of the series. The production sends him the scenes he must learn for the big day: a conversation about “dementors”, as well as a poignant moment where Harry’s deceased parents appear in the magic mirror. For this scene, the candidate must essentially perform “a series of worried facial expressions”. What he trains for “for a few weeks”.
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The key moment of a career
Then the big day arrives. Led by his father, he had the chance to take a quick tour of the Warner studios. He discovers, impressed, the first sketches of the Golden Snitch, the ball from the Quidditch match. Then he is received by the casting team. He finds himself facing director Chris Columbus, the producers and the two casting directors. A crucial moment, he knows, despite his very young age: his potential career and his future celebrity will be at stake in this moment.
But the pressure wins. “I felt shy, I froze and I didn’t deliver my lines with the same enthusiasm as at home. […] I caught the eye of one of the producers. He gave me a smile that I’m sure was meant to encourage me, but it was clear he had already made up his mind. »
Read also: Here is the little-known and tragic story of David Holmes, the understudy of Harry Potter in the cinema
“Complete and absolute anonymity”
Leaving the audition room, Jamie is under no illusion: he knows he won’t get the role. “On the way back, I felt two emotions stronger than ever before: the disappointment of not seeing my life transformed and the regret of my mixed performance. »
Twenty-five years after this missed opportunity, he explains that he felt a mixture “of dismay, remorse and shame” which revealed itself “quite devastating for a child”. “It took me a while to get over it”he admits. But he finds that this failure also helped him face and manage his emotions in his adult life. “And although I would have appreciated having the fortune of Daniel Radcliffe (estimated at 95 million pounds sterling, or 113 million euros)I honestly wouldn’t want to trade his younger years for mine […]. I’m happy that I was able to experience all these ups and downs in complete and utter anonymity. »
Daniel Radcliffe’s first audition, in 2000, during casting for the “Harry Potter” series:
Finally, for Jamie, there was “worse than not being cast as Harry”he reveals in the British daily. It was when he later learned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that he had been considered to play not Harry Potter… but the evil Draco Malfoy. “Finding out that you would be a good candidate for one of the most detestable characters in literature is a truly humbling experience.”he comments. There is no doubt that if Jamie had really been admitted to the wizarding school, he would have joined Gryffindor house…
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